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Thursday, March 15, 2018

Kirk Cousins signs with the Vikings

Photo: Zimbio

The Vikings have signed quarterback Kirk Cousins in free agency. Daniel House analyzes the details of the latest addition.

The Vikings have signed quarterback Kirk Cousins to a three-year, $84 million fully guaranteed contract. The deal has another $6 million in incentives that could boost the total value of the deal to a maximum of $90 million, per Adam Schefter.

Cousins, a six-year veteran, joins the Vikings after starting each of the past three seasons in Washington. He completed 65.5 percent of his passes for 16,206 yards, 99 touchdowns and 55 interceptions in six total seasons. Cousins has passed for more than 4,000 yards and 25 touchdowns in each of his past three seasons, a feat which has occurred just three times in the history of the Minnesota Vikings' franchise. He was voted to the Pro Bowl in 2016 and played on a franchise tag for the past two seasons with the Redskins. The team elected to let him test the market, while trading for Alex Smith from Kansas City.

Kirk Cousins was garnering attention from several teams in need of quarterbacks, but ultimately chose Minnesota. With the Vikings advancing to the NFC Championship, Cousins likely views this as an opportunity to take his career to another level.

Minnesota entered free agency with $50.08 million in cap space to sign a top quarterback, according to Over the Cap. They added an additional $6 million when defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd became a free-agent. Their cap number could increase if the team restructures the contracts of tight end Kyle Rudolph and running back Latavius Murray.

According to Albert Breer, Cousins' contract will increase the per year cap hit each year through 2020. He will have cap numbers of $24.0 million for 2018, $29 million for 2019 and $31 million for 2020, per Breer.

After these numbers are factored into the equation, the Vikings have roughly $26 million in remaining cap space.

The team should have the flexibility to make an additional signing like defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson, while extending players like Anthony Barr and Eric Kendricks.